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345 SE 5th, Madras, OR 97741 | 541.475.2275
Aldo Antunez
Two months after shots were fired at officers during separate traffic stops in Madras and Warm Springs, police have arrested a second suspect in the incidents.
Aldo Antunez Sr., 31, was wounded in an exchange of gunfire before he was apprehended in Warm Springs July 22.
One week earlier, the Madras Police Department had issued a press release noting that there was a warrant for the arrest of Antunez, who was wanted for nine counts of attempted murder, three counts of unlawful use of a weapon, attempting to elude a police officer, and felon in possession of a firearm in connection with the attempted traffic stops.
Antunez was located in a house in the West Hills area of Warm Springs around 1 p.m. July 22. He was alone in the residence.
"Neighboring houses were evacuated and road blocks were put in place and the house was surrounded by officers," according to Jim Soules, Warm Springs Public Safety general manager.
Police reported a shot fired from the residence at 1:39 p.m., followed by several more. One officers returned fire, and a short time later, Antunez called Warm Springs Police Dispatch to surrender.
"Antunez then came to the front door of the residence without any weapons and was taken into custody," Soules noted.
The suspect was transported by Warm Springs Fire and Safety to Mountain View Hospital in Madras, and then flown by AirLink to St. Charles Medical Center in Bend.
Antunez, who was shot in the left back, was no longer a patient at St. Charles on Tuesday, but was in police custody, with bail set at over $500,000.
The other suspect, Waylon McKie Weaselhead, 21, has been in custody since June 25, when he was spotted by Warm Springs police at 2:30 a.m., along Hollywood Boulevard, where police had been following a speeding vehicle that stopped and let him out.
Weaselhead was arrested without incident, and a .45 caliber semiautomatic weapons was found at the scene. He is being held on tribal charges in the Warm Springs Jail, pending additional state and federal charges.
The first incident allegedly involving the two men occurred around 12:17 a.m. May 20, when Madras police stopped a vehicle at Jefferson Street and U.S. Highway 97 for a traffic violation. The vehicle sped off, and the two occupants fired at officers in pursuit in the area of North Adams Drive and Elm Lane.
Police lost sight of the vehicle on U.S. Highway 26, but just after 7 a.m., a Warm Springs police officer attempted to pull over the same vehicle -- a light-colored Ford Explorer -- on Highway 3 on the Warm Springs Reservation.
As the officer activated his lights, the vehicle sped off. Once again, the occupants fired several shots from a rifle at the police, with only one shot striking the windshield of the vehicle. No one was injured in either incident.
Police continued to pursue the vehicle, which turned onto Highway 8, near Kah-Nee-Ta, and then onto Charley Canyon Road, where they jumped out and fled. Dozens of officers from numerous agencies responded, including a canine unit, but the men escaped.
Additional federal charges against Antunez are pending for the July 22 events.
